Should I Agree?

I dragged my weary feet, slowly making my way back to my room on the second floor.

The room wasn’t exactly dirty, but it certainly wasn’t clean either.

The quilt on the bed was haphazardly folded, and one curtain hung half-open, allowing a sliver of light to pierce the gloom.

The bookshelf against the wall was crammed with various manga and light novels.

Perched atop it were numerous clay figures, striking alluring poses.

These alone were enough to explain why a shut-in like me was unloved.

Not to mention the walls plastered with posters, and the body pillow and tissue box on the bed…

Cough, cough, the tissue box can be ignored.

In essence, my room was a quintessential otaku den.

I stepped into the familiar space, closed the door, and let out a sigh.

Walking over to the bed, I plopped down onto it.

“That dead girl, her blows are as heavy as ever.”

I rubbed my still-aching eyes, vehemently cursing that damned dark-bellied sister.

Li Qingcheng — that was the name of the girl in the witch costume I had just encountered.

She was my younger sister, five years my junior, and currently attending middle school.

Her personality, well, how should I put it?

She had a somewhat dark disposition, with a bizarre fondness for supernatural phenomena.

She always seemed to be harboring mischievous schemes, and I, as her older brother, had suffered endlessly at her hands.

Yet, she used to cling to me so much when she was little.

The thought filled me with a sense of despondency. Was I truly a failure as an older brother?

“Forget it. The important thing is that I’m back.”

As I murmured this, I surveyed my own body.

Though it was still the same scrawny, weak otaku physique, it was enough to put my mind at ease.

Indeed, it was good to be a boy.

I breathed a sigh of relief, then suddenly remembered something.

Rummaging through my pocket, I pulled out an exquisitely crafted crystal pendant.

“It wasn’t a dream.”

I whispered, and in my mind, the last words spoken by Queen Lan — who bore a striking resemblance to Ji Qianluo — echoed.

“You mean I can go back?”

I looked at Ji — no, at Her Majesty Queen Lan, as she should now be called — in astonishment, asking with confusion.

“Did I say you couldn’t go back?”

Lan smiled, rising to retrieve a crystal pendant from a cabinet beside her bed.

I watched as Lan handed the pendant to me, then inquired, “What is this?”

“This will be your medium for traveling to and from this world in the future. It’s part of the contract; with it, you can come to this world whenever you wish,” Lan replied.

I took the pendant and examined it closely.

“So, can I leave now?”

“Of course.”

Lan narrowed her eyes.

“If you have any lingering doubts, you could always ask the Ji Qianluo in your own world. She’s also signed the same contract as you, you know.”

“Is that so?”

At that moment, all I wanted was to return to my own world; I couldn’t be bothered with anything else.

Clasping the pendant, I urgently asked, “How do I use this thing?”

“Well, then.”

Queen Lan gazed skyward, propping her chin on her hand. “Student Li Qingchen, you only need to shout, ‘I love Queen Lan the most!’ to activate it.”

“Huh?”

I was instantly dumbfounded.

“Are you kidding me?”

“Truly, I am not.”

Queen Lan’s smile bloomed — indeed, her smile seemed to never fade, and all her smiles were devoid of good intentions.

“Ugh…”

I looked at the pendant with a troubled expression.

‘How am I supposed to say something so embarrassing, you fiend?’

“Student Li Qingchen won’t be able to return if you don’t say it, you know,” Queen Lan continued to remind me.

Sweat beaded at my temples as a fierce internal struggle waged within me.

“Ah, enough!”

Finally, I couldn’t bear it any longer.

I raised the pendant high and shouted, “Queen Lan, I love you the most!”

As soon as the words left my lips, the pendant emitted a brilliant light, identical to the light that had brought me here.

Joy instantly surged through me.

‘I can go back!’

“Ah, there’s one more thing, Student Li Qingchen,” Queen Lan suddenly interjected.

“The labyrinth conquest event will begin in a few days. I’ll use the pendant to notify you then, so be sure to come!”

“Hey, hey, I haven’t agreed to that yet!”

I protested urgently.

Queen Lan stuck out her tongue.

“So, will you refuse?”

“I…”

‘Refusal would trigger the contract’s backlash.’

‘Argh, I knew I shouldn’t have agreed to be this woman’s boyfriend in the first place.’

In the end, I never responded to Queen Lan.

My vision vanished into the white light, leaving me with only Queen Lan’s enigmatic smile, as if she already knew my answer.

And then, then I saw that unlucky girl, Li Qingcheng.

The flashback ended.

I slumped onto the bed, gazing at the pendant in my hand, still unsure of my final decision.

“Should I go or not?”

With the danger of the labyrinth still unknown, this trial granted by the Demon God was simply too cruel.

Come to think of it, I recalled Queen Lan mentioning that I could ask the real Ji Qianluo if I had questions?

Perhaps she might know something about the labyrinth!

Tomorrow is Monday, school day. I can go find her then!

Having made up my mind, a slight curve formed on my lips, and my worries eased.

Yet, suddenly, another thought struck me.

“Speaking of which, I was already outside, wasn’t I? Who brought me back?”

With that thought, I stood up, opened my door, and quickly headed downstairs to the first floor.

That girl was still there, kneeling with her back to me by the coffee table, one hand moving about, playing with something.

I frowned and walked closer.

“Hey, my dear sister, do you know how I got back?”

“Someone brought you back,” she said without turning her head.

“Who brought me?”

“A big sister.”

Li Qingcheng said this, then turned around, holding up an object to show me.

“Hey, hey, big brother, look at this Sachiko of Happiness I cut out!”

“What is that?”

I leaned in to look, and once I clearly saw the mangled paper cutout Li Qingcheng held, my jaw dropped.

“What the hell, you little brat! That was my anime convention ticket, bought with my very life!”